The multi-store memory model

Question 1

Who came up with MSM?

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shriffin’s (1968, 1971)

Question 2

What is the MSM?

Answer 2

A representation of how memory works in terms of 3 stores, and how information is transferred from one store to another

Question 3

What are the 3 stores in MSM?

Answer 3

1. The sensory register
2. STM store
3. LTM store

Question 4

Describe the sensory register (SR)

Answer 4

Stimulus from the environment enters the sensory register
Here there is a register for each of the 5 senses
Visual/ sight information goes into the iconic memory store
Sound information goes into the echoic memory store
The other sensory stores are for smell, taste and touch

Question 5

What store does visual information go to in the SR?

Answer 5

Iconic memory store

Question 6

What store does sound information go to in the SR?

Answer 6

Echoic memory store

Question 7

Describe duration of material in the SR

Answer 7

Duration is very short - less than a second

Question 8

Describe capacity of the SR

Answer 8

Capacity is very high - eg. the eye has over 1 million cells, all storing data

Question 9

Describe coding of the SR

Answer 9

Coding depends on the sense information receiving the information

Question 10

Describe the transference from SR to STM

Answer 10

Very little of what goes into the SR passes further into the memory system
Attention needs to be given to the information for it to continue

Question 11

Describe STM in the multi-store memory model

Answer 11

Information in the STM is coded mainly acoustically and lasts about 18 seconds unless it is rehearsed
STM is a temporary and limited capacity store (Millers 7 +/- 2)

Question 12

Describe the transference from STM to LTM

Answer 12

Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat (rehearse) material to ourselves over and over
We keep it in the STM until we’ve rehearsed it long enough for it to pass into the LTM

Question 13

Describe LTM in the multi-store memory model

Answer 13

LTM is a permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed
It codes semantically (in terms of meaning)
Capacity is unlimited
Duration may be a lifetime

Question 14

What is the process called when we want to recall information from LTM, so we transfer it back into the STM?

Answer 14

Retrieval

Question 15

Describe the case of HM (Henry Molaison)

Answer 15

HM underwent brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy. Unfortunately for him, the procedure used was in its infancy. A part of his brain known as the hippocampus was removed from both sides of his brain. We now know this to be central to memory function. When his memory was assessed in 1955, he thought the year was 1953, and that he was 27 years old (he was actually 31). He had very little recall of the operation. He could not form new long term memories. For example, he would read the same magazine repeatedly without remembering it. He couldn’t recall what he had eaten earlier the same day. However, despite all this, he performed well on tests of immediate memory span, a measure of STM.

Question 16

How does the case of HM relate to the MSM model?

Answer 16

The case of HM supports the multi-store model because it supports the central feature of the model – that there are two separate and independent memory stores, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
What happened to HM is evidence that it is possible to sustain damage to one of these stores with the other remaining relatively unaffected.
HM’s LTM was badly damaged. He had no memory for events that happened just hours or even minutes earlier. His LTM never improved with practice either. But testing showed that his STM was much less badly affected. His almost-normal digit span showed that he could recall information that was presented to him immediately.
Many people with amnesia show a similar pattern of memory – one store is damaged, the other is OK.

Question 17

What do clinical psychologists call the difference in STM and LTM performance?

Answer 17

Dissociation

Question 18

Give a strength and limitations of MSM

Answer 18

Strength - Research support showing that LTM and STM are different. Baddeley’s research showed that for coding STM is acoustic and LTM is semantic. This supports the view that these two memory stores (STM and LTM) are seperate and independent.

Limitation - Artificial materials. Researchers often used digits and letters (Baddeley did use words) which had no meaning. In everyday life we form memories related to useful things - faces, names, places. This suggests the MSM lacks external validity. The results may reflect what happens in a lab experiment but not what happens in real life

Limitation - Only explains 1 type of rehearsal. Psychologists (1973) argued that there were 2 types of rehearsal - maintenance and elaborate. Elaborate rehearsal is needed for long-term storage. This is when you link the information to your existing knowledge. Therefore information can then be transferred without prolonged rehearsal. Maintenance rehearsal is going over something over and over

Limitation - Evidence for more than 1 memory store. Shallice and Warrington (1970) studied a client, KF, with amnesia. KF’s short-term memory for digits was poor when they were read out loud to him, however, his recall was better when he read the digits himself. The MSM states there is only 1 type of STM store but this study suggests there must be more - one for visual information and one for auditory information